Draft and temperature regulator.



No. 634,257. Patented 3 o. L. BADGER. out DRAFT AND TEMPERATURE REGULATOR.

(Application filed Feb. 20, 1897.)

(No Modal.)

THE NORRIS PETERS my. mom-Limo wAsumrxruu,

UNITED STATES PATENT Futon.

OLIVER L. BADGER, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

DRAFT AND TEMPERATURE REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,257, dated October 3, 1899.

Application filed February 20, 1897. fierial No. 624,422. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER L. BADGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State 5 of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft and Temperature Regulators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to a draft and temperature regulator, and has special reference to a device for regulating and controlling the supply of hot and cold air to the different rooms in a building from any appropriate source.

I-Ieretofore the main difficulty in the supplying of hot and cold air to various rooms has been that the hot air, when the fire is started, will often go to certain rooms, while others will be left with little or no supply for a long time. This difficulty could not be overcome without visiting the different rooms and ascertaining the condition of each one, this being the case in large buildings having many rooms or apartments to beheated by the use of warm or hot air.

The object of my invention is to overcome these difficulties and to provide a simple and eifective apparatus which is especially designed to be used in connection with heatingfurnaces or other heat -generating devices having a number of hot and cold air passages connected thereto and leading to the various rooms to be heated and in which it is necessary to regulate and control the supply of air to equalize or control the temperature of the rooms, so as to have uniform ventilation and heat therein.

My invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, as hereinafter specifically set forth and described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawing, which is a vertical section of a main flue of a building provided with hot and cold air adits and having my invention applied thereto.

My invention is shown as applied to a furnace having the hot-air passage a leading therefrom into the main flue 2), into which leads the cold-air duct 0, which connects with the open air in any suitable manner. The main flue b is generally formed within the walls of the building and leads to the various rooms to be heated by means of branch flues opening into the rooms and covered by registers and controlled in the ordinary manner. A valve or damper dis pivoted at d opposite the passage a from the f urnace and is adapted to open and close the opening a of the passage ato the main line b. Pivoted at c in the main flue 1), preferably below the opening a of the passage to and over the cold-air duct 0, is the valve or damper e, which is connected to the damper d by means of rods f.

Mounted in bearings g in the main fine b above the opening a of the passage a is the shaft g, which is provided with a fan or propeller-wheel 7L, secured thereon and extending across the main flue 1). Below the propeller-wheel h the shaft g is preferably formed in 'a spiral form, as at 9 a chain or chains 7; being attached to the shaft g and to one or both of the dampers jj, which are pivoted at jj at or about their centers in the main flue Z) and stand in a vertical plane in their normal position. Hinged at 70 It on the lower ends of the dampers j j are the rods It k, which extend upwardly at an angle and are pivoted at k in the center of the main flue b to the upper end of a vertical rod Z, the lower end of which is pivoted at m to the rocking lever m. The rocking lever on is fulcruined at m in the main flue 1) near the pivot m on the rod Z, and to its opposite end is attached the chain it, which passes around a roller It, secured in the main flue b above the opening a of the passage a, and is attached to the damper d in any suitable manner.

The operation of my improved draft and temperature regulator is as follows: When the fire in thefurnace is started, the heated air therefrom will pass into the passage athrough the opening a into the main fine I) and up through the same past the dampers j. j and propeller-wheel 71 into the various rooms or apartments in the building, the propeller h on account of its construction and the dampersjj being in a vertical position in their normal state offer the least objection or resistance to the passage of the heated air up the main flueb. The propeller-wheel h is set and adjusted to the amount of heated air desired within the roomssay three hundred and sixty feet per minute, which is about the average amount requiredand if an amount of heated air is passing up through the main flue I) beyond the amount required,wl1ile the other flues are not properly supplied, the current of heated air will rotate the propeller-wheel it, thus winding the chain t' around the spiral on the shaft g,which will act to move the dampersjj, so that their lower ends will travel toward the walls of the main flue l), as shown in dotted lines, and so partially close the dampers By the closing of the dampers the vertical rod 1 is forced down through the medium of the rods 7.1, hinged to the lower ends of the dampers which will tilt the rocking lever in through its pivot or fulcrum m so raising the chain 71, attached to the free end of the rocking lever m and closing the damper (Z over the opening a and shutting off the hot air passing into the main flue b from the passage a, connected to the furnace,and at the same time opening the damper-e over the cold-ai r duct 0, so supplying cold air into the main fine I), which will pass up said llue and into the various rooms or apartments to regulate the temperature and cause continuous ventilation therein. The dampersj are closed to an extent depending upon the strength of the current of air, and when they are so far closed that the current is not suflicient to act upon the propeller 7L the propeller It will stand in that position, or if the current becomes still more reduced the weight of the parts below the dampersjj will draw them back again toward their vertical positions, the propeller h turning backward at the same time. Just as soon as the propeller 7L has started to rex'olve to partially close the dampersjj and close the damper (Z the damper c will have started to open, so admitting cold airinto the main flue Z) from the cold-air duct 0, and by the admission of the cold air the temperature and volume of the air passing into the main flue b is decreased and the propeller-wheel will revolve backward or reverse its motion, so opening the dampers jj and damper (Z in front of the opening a and closing the damper 6 over the cold-air duct 0, so shutting off the cold air and permitting the heated air to escape from the furnace through the opening a of the passage a into the main flue b and to the various rooms and forming a continuous supply of warm or cold air to the rooms for heating and ventilating the same. As the dampers are situated between the source of supplyand the propellerwheel, it will be seen that the propeller-wheel will be acted upon only when the dampersjj are opened.

The amount of air entering each room can be governed by the use of weights or springs attached to each of the dampers in the main flue or to the valve or damper e, as shown at p, and in case it is desirableto heat a number of rooms from the same source of supply the air can be divided into a number of parts, so that the amount of air passing through each of the fines can be ascertained by means of an air-meter, and weights can then be attached to the dampers in the fines to produce the necessary resistance, and these weights will bev proportioned to the amount of air required to pass through either of the flues. If a great amount of air is wanted in any particular room, heavier weights can be attached to the dampers in that flue connecting with the room,and if less airis required theweights are lighter, so that the propeller will act more readily upon the dampers.

It is manifest that the dampers, propeller, and parts can be arranged in a horizontal line and operated in a similar manner, so as to retain the dampers normally open and return them when the air-current ceases or is reduced.

It will thus be seen that by the use of my invention the volume and temperature of the air to be supplied to a fine or series of lines will be automatically regulated and controlled, so that the supply and temperature will be uniform for each of the rooms connected to the various fines and at the same time allowing a continuous supply of air for the purposes of ventilation. The apparatus is simple and cheap in its construction and effective in its operation. The parts being made out of metal will resist the heat and will not be affected thereby, and the diiferent dampers and parts will be arranged upon such a form of bearings as will permit of easy operation of all the parts composing the apparatus.

Various modifications in the construction, position, and design of the various parts of the device may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrifieing any of its advantages.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In combination with a ventilating and heating flue, hot and cold air ducts communicating therewith, means for controlling the sup ply of hot and cold air from said ducts to said flue, a draft-operated damper situated in the ventilating and heating line, and connections between said damper and said controlling means, whereby when the damper is operated by increase of draft the flowof hot air through said flueis diminished and the supply of cold air is increased.

In testimony whereof I, the said OLIVER L. BADGER, have hereunto set my hand.

OLIVER L. BADGER.

\Vitnesscs:

.T. B. Swni'rznn, J. N. COOKE. 

